News:

Bigotry is abound, apprently, within these boards. There is a level of supposed tolerance I will have no part of. Obviously, it seems to be well-embraced here. I have finally found something more fucked up than what I'm used to. Congrats. - Ruby

Reverend Roadkill, you are a new breed: Trolls who get by on accusing others of trolling.

Yes, I am trolling PD. I admit it. I have been doing so since January of 2002, and it took a genius like you to expose my fiendish plan. I in fact became an admin specifically to make this easier. You sir, are a regular fucking SHERLOCK HOLMES, and I think everyone on this here board should take a moment to thank you.

In any case, as V3x has pointed out, we've only been having this conversation for 8 years, so there wasn't much chance you'd see it. Of course, at no time did we holler at people to MOVE FORWARD, which explains why, despite our having written several books and pamphlets on the subject, we've made no progress at all.

Now, if you don't mind, I'd like to clear the checklist off...So please accuse me of the following things:

1. Not being a REAL Discordian.2. Controling the minds of the other members, ala Jim Jones or with orbital mind control lasers, etc.3. Being an old curmudgeony bald-headed bastard.4. Hivemind.

The weirdest thing is the way he keeps the large mass of pelts* that are glued together with some kind of funky sap-looking substance in the room with him at all times. He puts it one whenever he goes out, of course. And when there's a camera in the room. But he doesn't seem to mind the complete baldness and says he's adapted to desert life quite easily, having grown a thick layer of pinkish-brown leather-like skin that sheds every October.

That's probably why you're so unsettled. It's shedding time and, I'm not afraid to say it now that you're here, but he's been getting a little...wonky. Started eating more lizards than usual. What's more whenever really smart people like you show up he...well he scares 'em right off. And he scares me too.

I still see that pelt of fur sitting there on the chair next to me at the kitchen table...like it's people. And when I asked about it the whole party got quiet and Rev. Roadkill just started spitting on everything and said he was going to go get his gun. That pelt...I see it every time I close my eyes.

Alty,skeert.

*I can only imagine these were hand-gathered in the Canadian wild before they expelled him for lowering the bigfoot population with what can only be described as "loud, thunderous, bowel-clenching expulsions of noxious chemicals" that turned beautiful, lush greenland into what has been referred to in the media as Tar-Sand pits.

You know...I've felt that way before...feeling like others would prefer to remain in their cyclical melodramas than find an out. Eventually, I think, some folks get tired of it all and accept responsibility for their actions. Some folks think their pretty darn special for figuring this out. Other folks just grow up. And yet other folks will continue on with the charade...over and over... until it hurts just enough to either die or fix it.

Welcome to Life™ . There are hardhats in the lobby and cookies in the kitchen.

You essentially asserted that some people live under common assumptions, and then asked why they get mad when you challenge them.

"Because beliefs are tied to identity," we said. We gave examples.

You then asked “but why?” You followed up with an assertion that OTHER people yoked themselves to ideas, but YOU were a snowflake.

We pointed to evolutionary psychology and/or biology as a possibility, and referenced the Illuminatus! concept of “neophile”.

You again asked, “why?” Which at this point doesn’t make sense, because you don’t seem to be asking about evolutionary psychology, you just seem to be reiterating the previous question. Which means that you really didn’t understand the answer we gave.

It’s at that point where the conversation broke down, and we started poking you with sticks. If you had wanted to “keep the conversation going,” you should have responded to the answer given, rather than ignoring it and circling back to your previous question.

So, you want to know why most people act under blanket assumptions? Because for the most part, it works, and they’ve got more important things to do. They’re simply trying to get through their day, and they really don’t have time to get into extensive ontological analysis of belief systems and their real-world repercussions. Their belief systems work well enough to get by, and they’ll only really be faced with the issue of changing them when it directly and severely impacts their lives, if then even.

Then there is a minority of people who act under blanket assumptions, and they do that because they see some kind of personal benefit in it, be it financial, “spiritual”, or power-based. They use the assumption as an angle to manipulate others.

You know, I was going to write a whole big thing here about unquestioned assumptions in the OP, people having more important shit going on in their lives, not having being taught the right conceptual tools, that whining on the internet is what blogs are for etc...but then I realised this picture pretty much conveyed the message I wanted to get across: